This sucks
by ForestSprite
Summary: Saiyuki and Inuyasha xover. Only Inuyasha can piss of a magician that separates the gang via magic portal. Now Kagome is on her own with no clue where she is. Her first thought is 'This sucks.' Unfortunately that won't be the last time she thinks that.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Thank you for reading my newest story and I hope you enjoy. It'll be slow as this is a passing whim of mine and I work on it when I come up with something or need a break from my other projects and I do have a lot of other projects. There will be sometimes where there'll be a lot of updates and then there will be nothing. Please be patient.

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 1

"This positively sucks," the time traveling miko grumbled not for the first time as she plopped gracelessly to the ground, crossing her legs so she was sitting Indian style. She impatiently brushed blood covered bangs from her eyes as her eyes traced around the clearing making sure there was nothing alive and moving among the bloodied, gut and entrails covered clearing. Satisfied there was nothing that was about to pop up and attack her she sighed tiredly and hung her head wary as she had never been before.

She honestly didn't know where she was and she definitely had no clue where her friends were as she had been separated from them for almost a week now. "Stupid Inuyasha. Only he would piss off a magician needlessly," she groaned at her luck. Why did she have to be stuck with someone who jumped first and thought later?

After the hanyou foolishly pissed off the magic user, they had been set up against a golem of sorts that when destroyed activated some kind of portal. Kagome, the god's being against her, being closest to the portal had been sucked in, and after she had been spat out who knows where the portal closed behind her.

She had of course been frantic afterwards. Had the portal grabbed them all and was spitting them out randomly wherever? Were they still in the Feudal Era? Where the hell was here?

"This sucks," she said again. She had been wandering aimlessly for the last week constantly running into crazed demons. She had yet to run across one that still had its sanity intact. They were all blood lusting, out of their mind, crazed demons, and she meant crazed.

After her almost fifth run in with demons that just tried to kill her without even giving the usual death speech she had become suspicious and used her miko abilities in a way she had heard Kaede talk about once, to examine them. What she had found surprised her. In all of them she had found an imbalance in their youki surrounded by some foreign energy that she still wasn't able to quite make out but figured just wasn't supposed to be there.

The first sane person she came across she'd have to get some information from. 'Why did the portal dump her in a forest?' she wailed mentally. The least it could have done was drop her somewhere near civilization. She was beginning to wonder if any civilized places existed seeing as how she'd been wandering for almost a week now without seeing hide nor hair of a village.

"This sucks," she said again. She glanced half heartedly at her clothes. They were worn, thin looking rags that barely covered her now and were died red from blood. First chance she had was going towards new clothes and a hot shower. A bath even. She wasn't sure how she looked but she was sure the first mirror she'd glance into would shatter out of fright. Her hands clenched into fists out of annoyance before she sighed.

Glancing past the canopy of leaves that hung over her she noted the suns position and decided that she'd better get moving if she wanted to make any progress before nightfall. Her stomach grumbled in protest as she stood up and began heading in a western direction. Hell, the forest had to end sometime, right?

Hopefully.

End chapter


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Thank you for reading my newest story and I hope you enjoy. It'll be slow as this is a passing whim of mine and I work on it when I come up with something or need a break from my other projects and I do have a lot of other projects. There will be sometimes where there'll be a lot of updates and then there will be nothing. Please be patient.

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 2

The time traveling miko was too tired and sore to say it but her mind was wailing how everything sucked and wasn't fair. Tired eyes stared across the clearing where she lay hoping any god might take pity on her and give her a break just for once.

Her body hurt and she didn't think she could defend herself if she got attacked. Heck she couldn't even swat a bug away let alone a demon. Not for the first time she began a mental checklist to find what she did so wrong to make the god's do this to her. Whose puppy did she kick?

An annoyed sigh escaped her lips as she noted the blood that was pouring from the wounds on her arm. She was almost positive it hurt but couldn't tell because of how numb she was feeling. She was also positive she had more cuts like that along her body.

Momentarily she felt a fleeting curiosity: 'So this is how it felt to die,' before it was squashed down flat. There was no way she was going to die in this place. She still had no clue where she was.

She made an attempt to push herself up but the numbness had spread and any hope she had of getting up was killed. 'Well hell,' she thought somewhat amused. 'And here I thought after falling from that cliff it couldn't get any worse but it seems to not be the case.'

Her eyes closed momentarily, very tired when she picked up an odd sound. Odd, but familiar. Her eyes shot open, eyes flashing a slight pink as she moved too quickly for her body to handle. She fell back down with a loud cry of pain that she felt like kicking her own ass for.

As she swore mentally up and down she heard that familiar sound die away. Had it moved away from her? Had they heard her and stopped? She stilled her breathing and focused her attention around her trying to spot anything as the sounds of the forest began to die out. 'Not good, not good,' she shouted internally as she tensed waiting for what was going to happen next.

Then a shot rang out.

She was a good deal positive now she was no longer in the Feudal Era because they didn't have guns there yet. They weren't that far along in history yet so what did that tell her? She was certainly not in any Kansas she knew.

Her thoughts were then interrupted by a loud angry roar as a demon crashed into her clearing. Yes, her clearing. She was there first damnit and until she stood up and left, it would stay hers. Her eyes narrowed on the humanoid demon as another thought clicked, all the demons she'd come across were humanoid. In the Feudal Era a humanoid form spoke of a higher breeding or class and was somewhat rare but here she had yet to see a demon that wasn't humanoid, even if a little ugly.

'Damn,' she thought in wonder. 'Why didn't I realize that sooner?' she was broken from her thoughts when the demon turned crazed eyes on her giving a low growl with a delighted grin. 'Double damn,' she amended silently staring up at the thing from the ground.

If you were to ask her at that moment what her thoughts were they'd likely run along the lines of… 'Oh my god! I got it. The puppy I kicked was Inuyasha.' Her brows furrowed as she ignored the demon in front of her to look up at the sky, and what a beautiful sky it was with fluffy looking clouds and… She shook her head violently concentrating on the task at hand. "He deserved to be kicked those times and he wasn't even kicked. He was sat! Do you hear me? Sat! You can't punish me for that," she yelled at the sky making the demon pause in confusion.

Taking a deep breath to calm her angry self she turned back to the demon in front of her that seemed to be recovering from its shock. It gave a low angry growl and made a move to advance on her when another shot rang out. She watched tiredly and with a bit of interest as the demon seemed to disappear revealing the four people behind it, three demons and a human. The human, holding a gun in front of him, looked like an important monk.

"Oh kami, not another monk," she murmured passing out as blood loss, lack of sleep and food, and painful injuries finally caught up to her leaving four very confused men.

End chapter

Hehe, sorry for ending the chapter like that but I thought it would be kind of fun. Oh kami, not another monk snickers Also before anyone corrects me I know that Sanzo isn't a monk but a priest, don't worry.

ForestSprite


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I got a surprising amount of people interested in this so after I got home from drill this weekend I forced myself to sit down and finish this chapter that I had just barely started. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think. Please understand that this will be slow moving still and especially in June chapters will be very slow because I will be gone for half the month. Thank you for reading and enjoy.

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 3

Laughter.

Teasing, joking voices.

The sound of someone getting hit.

Had the last week been nothing but a bad dream?

Eyes opened hopefully to find a light bulb swinging above her and she let out a breath of air she hadn't realized she'd been holding. 'This sucks.'

"Hey, hey guys! She's awake!" a childish voice said excitedly making her lips twitch into a small smile as it reminded her of Shippo. Oh, how she missed her family.

"How are you doing miss? Are you okay?" asked a kind gentle voice that hid layers of pain beneath it. She sensed youki in him.

She cleared her throat as she turned to look at him. "I could ask you the same," she responded. Noticing the confused look in his beautiful emerald eyes she smiled reaching a hand to caress his cheek allowing a bit of her powers out to soothe him. "Don't worry."

His eyes widened for a moment in surprise before he relaxed into her power. "You poor child, there are times where you just can't do anything. I would never be so foolish to tell you to forget but learn from it and move on." She smiled gently at him and pulled her hand back to look at the other three occupants of the room who appeared to be watching her suspiciously.

She sat up and looked at the men taking in their appearances. One had red hair and eyes, with a tall, slim build. His aura was half demonic and half human but she noted he was missing that imbalance she'd found in all demons so far as well as the emerald eyed youkai.

Another, who had a surprising amount of youki in his small body, slightly surprising her, had the appearance of a child with short brown hair and eyes. Taking a closer look at him and his eyes she knew he wasn't a child even if he looked it.

The other man, the monk, had blonde hair and violet eyes. He was dressed in immaculately clean white robes, a large sutra hanging around his neck. A small smile pulled at her lips. "Mou, don't look at me like I'm going to go on a rampage."

"Who are you?" the boy asked curiously as he moved closer to her leaning against the bed.

She cupped his cheek gently gazing at his eyes, noting they weren't completely brown but a darker gold. "I'm called Kagome. Who are you?"

"Goku," he replied pressing into her hand as she allowed a slip of her power out to soothe him.

"That's a very nice name," she informed him turning her attention to the half-demon and human staring at her. "Thank you for healing me. I was beginning to think I'd be in that forest forever."

"You were about a day from making it out of there," the emerald eyed demon standing by her still informed her.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "No way! A week and a half in that lousy forest and I collapse a day from escaping it? This positively sucks." She brought her free hand to her head hitting herself rather loudly as she began to grumble not so quietly. "Stupid demons… stupid magicians… lousy forests that never end… dumb demon companion."

"May we inquire why you were in the forest Miss Kagome?" the emerald eyed demon asked breaking her from her thoughts.

"Please, just Kagome…" she looked at him inquiringly for his name.

"Hakkai. Cho Hakkai."

She smiled kindly. "Okay, Hakkai it is. Now how I got in that forest is something I'm still trying to figure out." She looked thoughtful for a moment before brightening and clasping her hands in front of her she looked eagerly at Hakkai. "Ne, Hakkai, what year is it and where am I?"

He looked at her thoroughly confused. "You're in Shangri-la," as he continued to speak she zoned out paling to a ghostly white.

'China? I'm in China? But I was in Japan before that and I think I would have remembered crossing an ocean to reach the mainland. Oh Inuyasha, what kind of trouble did you get us in this time?' she wailed mentally. She was brought out of her miserable thoughts by someone calling her name.

"Kagome? Kagome!" Hakkai called looking at her somewhat worriedly as he supported her limp body in its sitting position.

Her head shot up as she looked at him in surprise. "Oh, Hakkai. I'm sorry, really sorry," she began to apologize as she rightened herself throwing a thankful smile his way.

He smiled back at her. "No need to apologize. Are you feeling alright?"

She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly looking away. "Yea I'll be fine. It's just that I was so surprised to find that I had been transported all the way to the mainland. I just don't get what is going on." She furrowed her brow in thought as she mumbled out not quite so softly, "I hope I find the others soon. I'm just worried is all. I was with companions before this, about two weeks back and then we fought a shikigami and then I found myself transported here. I miss my son." She looked troubled as she took note of all the more modern artifacts in the room. 'This seems really out of place. Maybe I'm in a parallel universe? I wonder…' Her nose scrunched up slightly as she continued into deep thought mode not noticing the intense stares from the males before she let gave a small pout.

She let out a heavy sigh as she looked back at Hakkai. "I must really thank you for taking care of me. You didn't have to and I appreciate it." Hakkai who'd heard the slip in her statement earlier stored it away for asking later on as he smiled at her.

"Che, the idiots wouldn't let us leave you behind," the monk grumbled annoyed making her lips twitch in amusement. 'How like an Inuyasha comment,' she thought in small glee.

"Well either way, you have my sincere thanks. Maybe I can repay you somehow?" She looked hopefully at them.

The red head who'd managed to stay silent up until that point gave a lecherous grin as he crossed the room to stand by her bed side. "Well I know how you can repay me. Just stay in that bed and send the other children out so we can have some fun," he said giving a roguish smile.

Her eyes widened slightly before she managed to cool her expression. "Hentai," she growled at him, "wait until I tell Sango I found Miroku's twin," she murmured to herself. "I'll bet you ask girls to bare your children too when you come across them," she said with a small sigh as she looked him over carefully.

"No, I just ask them to bare themselves to me on the bed," he shot back easily while a light blush covered her face.

"I take it back, you're worse than that perverted monk. You're in a class all your own," she said while glaring at him.

"Hey, hey, Kagome?" Goku said excited as he pushed away the red head to stand next to her. "Do you know how to cook? You could pay us back that way."

She smiled at the smaller boy… err man and nodded her head. "Yes I can cook if that's all right with everyone." She looked thoughtful again as she looked to Hakkai again. "Ne, Hakkai, what is the current situation of this country? Any wars, famine, disease, anything?"

Once again he gave her a confused glance as he told her about the experiments to revive Gyumaoh and the minus-wave. She gave a small delighted grin. "The imbalance! That's it."

"The what?" Goku asked confused.

"Mm, sorry about that. I've noticed all the demons, with the exception of you three," she pointed at the three demons, "had an imbalance in their youki that I've never seen before. I was terribly confused but now I think I got it."

'That's right. Ladies and germs, Elvis has left the building. Conclusion: I've ended up in another universe and this totally sucks. Wait… I what?'

"Oh lord Buddha you are terribly cruel to me," she murmured softly but still loud enough to be heard by everyone. Before she could be asked what she was talking about she looked up to the ceiling in a blank daze. "This totally sucks."

Goku looked at her questioningly but her eyes promptly rolled to the back of her head and she fell limply passing out once again.

The boy looked at her weirdly before giving a small shrug he covered her tiny body with a blanket and looked at the others. "Anyone up for a game of mahjong?"

End chapter


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Thank you for reading my newest story and for those of you that have already added me to your favorites and such thank you. I'm surprised that this (as well as my other newer story) has caught as much attention as it has. It's a nice surprise to know that you enjoy reading this as much as I like writing it.

I do have some sad news for fans of my other fictions, particularly When The Darkness Takes Over. There is no current plans on updating them. I have talked to my long time friend and current beta and she has agreed with me that it is most definitely swimming in plot holes, clichés and is a general mess. (I really do love her for this because it's hard to get others to see what I'm trying to point out.) We are currently going over outlines and rough drafts for the redone version of this but I do not guarantee that it will be anytime soon. The first couple chapters will probably keep with a couple of changes but for the most part please expect some differences and hopefully a cleaner story.

Other then that thank you for your patience and on with the story!

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 4

"There's something really weird…"

"…knew you were demons…"

"Strange..."

"Unafraid…"

"…asked about…"

"...clothes..."

"...confusing..."

Her head hurt… badly and the soft murmurings heard incompletely weren't helping any as she strained to hear what was being said. She tried to sit up a little making her head spin even more, forcing her to gasp for breath, quickly silencing the voices.

"Did someone get the number on the semi 'cause I would like to report a hit and run!" Kagome said slightly dazed as she managed to get into a rather comfortable position only to find herself being stared at by four pairs of eyes. She cocked her head to the side as she regarded them starting to go slightly cross-eyed before she shook her head quickly. "Okay, what dumb thing did I do now?" she asked annoyed.

"You say some of the strangest things," Goku supplied as the other three adults continued to look at her curiously… or was it suspiciously? Either way she couldn't find it in her to really care. She hurt!

She almost jumped when she was brought out of her thoughts by a hand tapping her shoulder. Giving a small 'eep!' she looked at Hakkai to see him holding two friendly looking white pills and a glass of water. Giving him a winning smile she took the offerings and downed the pills taking a swig of water to help it down.

'Oh beautiful, friendly, white pills how I love your existence,' she sang in her head knowing that her pain would begin to lessen, hopefully, within awhile. "Thank you very much Hakkai," she said turning her attention to the emerald-eye demon. "You've done so much for me so far and I have yet to do anything in return."

He smiled his gentle smile at her as he assured her it was no big deal and she was probably one of the easiest strays they have ever picked up to handle.

She wasn't quite sure if she appreciated being referred to as a stray but she was still thankful all the same and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth… or however that went. She smiled at him again before she turned her attention to the other males of the room before she turned thoughtful. Her eyebrows knitted together as she became deep in thought and her eyes crossed slightly again as she pursed her lips.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Goku questioned once again bringing her back to the world of the slightly normal. She turned a slight pink as she nodded her head giving a sheepish grin.

"I just realized something," she murmured as she quite dramatically pointed her finger at the red haired demon and droopy-eyed monk. "I have no idea as to what your two names are!"

Hakkai laughed as he gave her Sanzo and Gojyo's names.

"Is that what brought the idiotic look to your face?" the blond monk asked looking at her in a bored manner.

She tilted her head to the side, doing a good impression of a curious kitten without even trying. "You're so much like him it's scary," she said surprising him when she didn't blow up. She gave an annoyed huff that made her bangs fly out of her face slightly. "What is it with me and arrogant men? I just seem to find them everywhere I go."

"Don't put me in the same category as that demented priest!" the red head said somewhat annoyed.

She regarded him with her stunning eyes as she smiled at him mischievously. "Don't worry. I'm not. You're among the perverts I've met." Her eyes twinkled in merriment as he deflated at her words. "They also seem to number big among the people I've met. I don't seem to have a very good track record so far." She gave a pitiful sigh before she looked at Hakkai with a huge smile clapping her hands together excitedly. "I think you're among the best things to have ever happened to me though Hakkai. You and Goku! I can't wait to tell the others about you when I see them again. You're like Jinegi and Shippo! Your kind is so hard to find!"

"Hey, hey! Who are Jinegi and Shippo?" Goku asked curiously watching as she gave a sad, fond smile of remembrance.

"They are my… family you could say. I've been separated from them and have no clue how to get back from here." She sighed before cocking her head to the side to look at Goku thoughtfully. "Your energy is very different from the other two. Why is that?"

The younger looking demon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while he tried to think of what to tell her. He didn't want to scare her. "He's the monkey king with incredible strength, the Great Sage." Hakkai informed her for Goku while he backed away worried.

Kagome turned to look at Hakkai. "Really?"

"Why don't you ask Goku to confirm?" Hakkai said even as he nodded.

She turned excitedly to Goku. "Really? That's true? Oh my, that is awesome. So you must be pretty powerful without that limiter on huh? How, scary," she said grinning like a fool.

"You don't appear to be very scared," Gojyo said looking sideways at her.

"Hmm… that's probably because I'm not," she replied with a laugh. "My best friend is a half-demon and sometimes he loses control of his demon side. That's scary." She somehow seemed very distant and unreachable at that moment as she gave a sad smile.

"So you're scared of him?"

"No, never!" she said shaking her head emphatically as she snapped back into herself. "I'm scared for him. It gets harder and harder each time for him to turn back into himself and after the last time… he still has yet to forgive himself even though I did so long before he came too. In this special family of mine he was the first one to become a part of it. He's the last person I'd want to lose."

"You're nice," Goku said suddenly surprising a laugh from her.

"I doubt our enemy thinks the same," she responded with a small smile, "but I appreciate the kind words all the same. I think you're nice too."

"You said your enemy, who is that?" Hakkai asked curiously wanting to test the waters even just a little to find out her reactions.

It was easy to see from her posture that she was ready to panic when she pulled herself together just as fast although her eyes continued to give her away. "Did I? It must have slipped. My friends and I are only travelers searching for a particular… treasure. We have an opponent who searches for the same treasure so I guess you could call him our enemy, but that is all there is to it. No harm, no foul."

"Of course," he agreed with a small polite small to which she returned although it was now evident to him that she had very deep, dark secrets that she wasn't going to give up without a fight and she knew just how sly he could be. This could affect the playing field later, Hakkai thought absentmindedly.

"How do you plan on finding these friends of yours?" Sanzo asked leaning against the wall looking at their guest uninterested.

"Good question," she said with a small smile. "I guess as soon as I recover my strength I'll have to work temporarily so I can afford supplies and then go out looking for them. It's pretty much all I can do right now," she shrugged although there was something extremely sad about her.

Hakkai looked at her, trying to measure her but he just couldn't seem to get a firm fix of her character. She seemed nice and kind, but quick to anger and moody. She smiled but her eyes told the lies. Her body looked small and fragile but was actually well muscled and strong, he would know, he'd bandaged her body.

As though sensing Hakkai's train of thought she smiled amiably. "Don't put much thought into my presence. I'm a mystery to the world and if no one ever understands I won't be terribly upset. I'm almost expecting no one to ever understand."

He regarded her carefully before he spoke. "That sounds oddly depressing."

Once again she gave that curiously odd small smile of hers. "You think so? I think that it works out because if there were no mysteries in the world there would be nothing exciting. I'd like to think that I'm adding to the excitement of the world," she informed him with a small laugh.

"When put that way it doesn't seem quite so depressing anymore," Hakkai remarked in turn finding himself enjoying her quick wit and intelligent mind.

"Hey Kagome," Goku yelled out excitedly staring at her eagerly grabbing on to her hand tightly.

"Er… yes Goku?" she asked curiously wondering why he had that weird look in his eyes.

"You said you could make food for us right?"

She could swear she saw hearts in his eyes. "I take it your hungry, ne?" At the excited nod of his head she grinned pleased and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pushing herself into a standing position, Hakkai watching her so she wouldn't fall. She had been out for awhile after all. "Hakkai, when you guys found me did you see a large yellow back nearby?"

"You mean this monstrosity?" Gojyo asked stepping a little to the side to reveal the bag he'd been hiding from her view. "It was found on the other side of the clearing from you."

She couldn't keep the joy out of her eyes. "Thank goodness, I thought I'd lost it after the fall from that cliff."

The four stared at her for a moment trying to keep the shock and disbelief from their faces. She fell from that cliff above that are they'd found her?

Hakkai gazed at her speculatively. 'That would account for a number of bruises but what about the deep cuts? They were too clean to be from a fall.' "You made a comment about the demons here? I take it you had a run in with them?"

She mock glared at the wall although she had a hard time keeping the small smile from her lips. "Wouldn't you believe it? I got chased by them buggers. How totally unsurprising." She cocked her head to the side so she could look at him clearly. "I swear it happens at least once a day." With that she headed to where Gojyo stood and picking her bag up with ease went back to the bag, taking things out and setting them to the side.

The group found themselves amazed with all the things she kept in that bag. 'How did that all fit in there?'

After awhile of sorting she seemed to have found what she was looking for and turned to Hakkai. "Where's the kitchen?"

Goku, tired of waiting, grabbed her hand eagerly and led her to the kitchen, chattering away as she stumbled behind him trying to keep up with him casting a pleading look back to the remaining three before they disappeared past the doorway.

"Well that was unusual," Gojyo said pushing himself off the wall as he moved to follow them. "I'm going to see if they need help." He too disappeared from the room leaving Hakkai and Sanzo to themselves.

"What do you think of our stray?" Hakkai asked with a small smile although Sanzo being Sanzo could pick up the real question behind it.

"She could possibly be dangerous," he replied glancing towards all the items that littered the bed, all camping items carefully stored in plastic bags to save them from water damage or other weather disasters. "She's also far from normal."

"What's normal?" Hakkai asked with a laugh as he followed the others lead heading towards the kitchen asking if the others needed a hand.

"Indeed, what is normal?" Sanzo wondered as he pulled out a cigarette and matches and with a quick flick it was lit.

He stayed there for a moment shaken out of his thoughts when there was a mini explosion through the house followed by a loud smack. "You pervert!" the new female addition to the group was heard to holler. "This sucks!"

End chapter

Sorry for such a long delay. I won't bore you with excuses but just hope that you enjoy the new chapter and please leave me a review with any ideas that you might possibly have to help make this story move a bit faster.

Thank you for reading and hope that the wait was worth it.

ForestSprite


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Thank you for reading my newest story and for those of you that have already added me to your favorites and such thank you. I'm surprised that this (as well as my other newer story) has caught as much attention as it has. It's a nice surprise to know that you enjoy reading this as much as I like writing it.

I do have some sad news for fans of my other fictions, particularly When The Darkness Takes Over. There are no current plans on updating them. I have talked to my long time friend and current beta and she has agreed with me that it is most definitely swimming in plot holes, clichés and is a general mess. (I really do love her for this because it's hard to get others to see what I'm trying to point out.) We are currently going over outlines and rough drafts for the redone version of this but I do not guarantee that it will be anytime soon. The first couple chapters will probably keep with a couple of changes but for the most part please expect some differences and hopefully a cleaner story.

Other than that thank you for your patience and on with the story!

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 5

After the incident with in the kitchen with Gojyo, Goku had taken it upon himself to "protect" the girl from the kappa pervert… not that she really needed it after seeing firsthand the damage the girl had wrought to the red haired demon. The two could be found talking quietly by her bed as she continued to recover from her wounds or in the kitchen as she prepared meals for the group instructing the younger looking demon on what to do to assist her.

"Ah, and then you go like this," she reached an empty hand out to his ear and with a flick pulled a coin out from behind, "and voila! It's magic," she finished placing the coin in the boys eager awaiting hands.

"That was so cool Kagome!" Goku cheered while she smiled at him.

"It's nothing. My younger brother taught me that one but he knows a lot cooler tricks." She sat back gazing at the boy speculatively. "You smile a lot, it must be a force of habit now," she observed out loud catching him off guard.

His smile slipped for a second before it was back up. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied looking anywhere but at her face… until he felt his cheeks being pinched that is. He looked at her surprised. "What was that for?"

"You're so cute but you can't hide it from me," she smiled gently when she caressed his cheek as if in apology this time. "I know from experience."

He felt his breath catch in the back of his throat. She was no longer smiling… or anything. Her face was void of expression. "K-Kagome?" he asked worriedly.

In an instant she was smiling again. "Yes, I understand," she said quietly but he wasn't sure if it was to him or just herself. "Excuse me, I need some air." With that she stood up quickly and slipped out of the room.

"Wait, Kagome!" Goku said as he leapt to his feet to follow her when a voice halted his progress.

"She needs some time to herself. She's been mentally scarred somewhere along the line and even now she still feels the burden. You should understand something like that."

The Monkey King turned to look at Hakkai who was leaning against the door frame, a thoughtful expression marring his usual kind face. "We dealt with most of the pain awhile ago but it's still fresh to her Hakkai. She needs someone," he replied looking somewhat frantic. "She's in a place where she knows no one."

"That may be for the best. It could be that the group she's been separated from is the cause of her trauma. Whether they did it knowingly or not is unknown."

"But… that's horrible. How can you do that to a companion?" the boy asked looking aghast. "Especially her!"

"How indeed," the demon hunter murmured. "However I don't think you have too much to worry about right now." At the boys confused look he nodded to the window where they could see the female leaning against a trees when out of the shadows someone stepped next to stand by her pulling out a cigarette speaking to her which she shook her head too. It was presumably if she minded if he smoked as with a quick motion the lighter was pulled out and the tip of the cancer-causing stick was lit as he took a deep drag.

"What's he doing?" the boy asked both in awe and confusion.

"I do believe he initiated contact. I think the two of them sense something familiar in each other," Hakkai said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but what is he doing?" the boy asked again.

Hakkai grinned. "And to think that he wanted nothing to do with our stray. Sanzo-sama, you're a contradiction to yourself."

---

"Shouldn't you be inside recovering?" Sanzo asked between drags, looking at her as if bored and this was all a formality

She suppressed the laughter that threatened to bubble out. 'What a funny man,' she mused. 'He is definitely too kind, no matter what he says otherwise.'

"These are hardly the worst injuries I've ever had. I just don't think I've had them all together in succession like this before is all," she smiled faintly amused. "Seems I've built a certain amount of pain tolerance," she added with a small laugh.

He quirked an eyebrow as the smoke encircled him. "Hardly seems funny to me," he remarked.

She gave her secretive smile. "It isn't."

They stood in relative silence. Her, soaking in the surroundings and him, finishing his cigarette. As he dropped the smoking stub to the ground, he crushed it with the heel of his foot before looking at her from the corner of his eyes carefully. "Do you understand the nature of our journey?"

"I'm very familiar with what you're going through Sanzo-sama," she replied softly still looking out into the trees though he noted she somehow seemed sadder than before.

End chapter

Sorry, extremely short but I wanted to get something out. I'll hopefully have something longer next time around

ForestSprite


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

A/N: Thank you for reading my newest story and for those of you that have already added me to your favorites and such thank you. I'm surprised that this (as well as my other newer story) has caught as much attention as it has. It's a nice surprise to know that you enjoy reading this as much as I like writing it.

Let's see what can I say? I'm really sorry first of all. I know the poll said that NGFL? was the most requested update but I unfortunately found myself stuck at a spot that I need to polish before I'm willing to post it and then next up after that I believe was Normal Life with this in the third.

So how did this end up the winner? Well I was inspired during my three weeks of hell at AT and this is what came of it. I really am sorry for anyone upset but I promise I'm trying to work through the kinks of NGFL? so that I can have it updated as soon as possible and I also do have a chapter of Normal Life written that I still have to type up and get beta(-ed) so look forward to that too. Thanks for all your patience.

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 6

It had been something of a bad day for Kagome. First there had been that pervert who was worse than Miroku at almost any given moment and secondly since she hadn't been quite cleared in the health area the mysterious and enigmatic Hakkai had talked the mighty Sanzo into dragging her along with them which meant running into demon after demon that were dead set on stopping the Sanzo party.

This also meant trying to stop the new "member", or as Kagome tried to inform the overwrought demons "hostage", from getting through too.

After successfully avoiding any conflict in Jeep, the group managed to fight back the demons and Kagome found herself never having to show that if it came down to it she could most definitely fight and probably win… especially against a lot of these guys.

That was hardly the point though. The point was that she had almost been a target and she could have sworn that the Shikon had flared at one point and time during a battle because she was pretty sure she suddenly had a lot of demons aiming for her. That should not have happened.

At all.

Miroku had told her with the current seal she had on it not even Naraku should be able to find it on her person unless he physically searched for it himself which she would most definitely prefer he not do. Ugh… those tentacles… Need she say more?

So, finding herself a little frustrated as soon as the group found a spot to camp out for the night she offered to find food and cook for the night so she could get some alone time and vent that frustration that was slowly taking over her.

Kagome tightly gripped the Shikon in her hands and ripped it from her neck barely feeling the pain as the chain pulled tight against her skin before snapping. She hurled the fragmented rock with an angry growl watching as it disappeared from view in satisfaction and slight worry, that is until she realized resting in her curled up fist was the very stone she had just thrown.

Kagome could feel tears well up in her eyes even as she struggled to keep them back. "Why? You're ruining my life," she angrily accused the stone opening the tight fisted-white knuckled grip she had to peer at the happily sparkling pink stone from hell. It was because of this stone-because of her- that so many bad things had happened. There really was no way around it and to top it off when she throws it here it comes right back to her where as in the Feudal Era it would stay wherever it was tossed to? What the hell? Did the jewel sense that something was wrong and decide it was necessary to stick with her if it ever hoped to be pieced back together?

Brown eyes narrowed angrily on it as she let out a hateful, "I hate you. You and those four goddamn souls residing in you. Make friends, play nice, be happy and cease to exist already. How long must you cause this suffering?"

The pink dulled to a light purple for just a moment before brightening back up again.

XXXX

He watched her carefully-violet eyes thoughtful and assessing. She'd been brooding for awhile now. Ever since that last battle he knew she'd been blaming herself for not being there for… her. Hell he'd been blaming himself as well but he was still able to realize that it really wasn't his fault, just as it wasn't really any of their faults, but she would never realize that.

He also knew when it was late at night and she thought everybody was asleep she would sneak out of the hut and search for their missing companion only coming back shortly before sunrise, dead tired and just barely able to stand up right to walk to her bed, for a couple hours of sleep, before they'd all get rudely awaken by their "fearless leader" to start another day of pointlessly searching for the remaining shards.

Everybody would brood in their own private way as they covered miles of ground only to return to the hut exhausted, frustrated and defeated just to begin the cycle all over again for the next day.

It was beginning to wear down on everybody, he could see that. Thing is, he wasn't _her_ and didn't know how to salvage the situation. He had tried, but she was just a natural at it and… well… his special ability was conning people with fake exorcisms. If they didn't find her soon he wasn't sure what was going to happy to their merry little band of hunters but currently their future wasn't looking too pretty.

He let out a sigh as he watched his beloved jerk up quickly when she almost nodded off next to the fire- eyes blinking rapidly and head swiveling to see if anybody had noticed. With a small indulgent smile he turned his head away to seem as though he hadn't noticed so as not to upset and/or embarrass her.

In the words of their missing companion, one certain Kagome Higurashi, this situation sucked!

XX

"I miss her," Shippo whined childishly looking to the taller male that stood at his side for comfort of some kind. It had surprised the others when the boy had clung to his presence after she disappeared.

They all had expected him to do his usual rounds of accusations and angry yelling but he'd surprised them all by sticking to him like glue, obviously taking comfort by being near him- or maybe it had to do with the fact that while the other two were nice and all they hadn't been there during the revenge for his father like Kagome and Inuyasha had.

A large, heavily calloused hand dropped on bright red hair mussing it up affectionately. "Me too kiddo. Me too," his voice low and rough was filled with pain at her loss.

Or maybe it was this side of him that the boy and Kagome knew that made him stay by his side.

XXXX

"You're upset," he said coming up from behind her to casually lean against a tree that was across from her. He waved his right hand up that held his cigarette, looking at her in an inquiring fashion to see if she minded. She shook her head and he lit up smoothly taking a draw.

She found herself slightly amused by how he could make questions as statements. Nodding her head to confirm what wasn't really a question she answered, "I am."

There was that long moment of silence she'd come to associate with his presence where he puffed on his cigarette and reflected in his mind before he'd say something undoubtedly profound.

"You're pretty dumb."

… or pretty perplexing.

She quirked an eyebrow- part curious and part annoyance warring in her mind. "Excuse me?"

He drew another breath from his cancer causing stick, droopy violet eyes appraising. "You think too much. If you just went by the moment you'd have no time to worry or get upset but you keep thinking about what might have been or should have been. You're allowing yourself to be dragged down by all these invisible weights."

There he goes with the profound; she thought fondly gazing at him carefully. "So what should I do then?"

He gave her that look, that How-dumb-are-you look. "Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

She gave a small smile. "No, I think I got it. Thank you."

He shrugged, "Birds of a feather… or something like that I've heard."

Her grin turned all innocent even as she internally wondered just how much he thought he had figured out all the while mentally wailing 'This sucks!' she shook her head mockingly, "Now, I have no idea what you're talking about."

End chapter

Wow! That was a long time coming. Thank AT for being so boring. I had quite of bit of time at night and in between missions to do some writing.

Hope you enjoy and have a good one.

ForestSprite


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Saiyuki. They are beyond my ownership.

**A/N: You readers must be some of the most patient people to ever exist. By now if I were you I would have e-mailed the author bugging them to update… but I really appreciate that you haven't done that.**

**I do have some bad news though. You thought that my updating schedule was bad? My unit was activated for Iraq and well that is keeping me plenty busy. I definitely don't suggest this place for vacations by the way, that could just be me. Thanks for sticking with me during this trial. I wish I was better at this whole motivation thing so I'd keep up my writing.**

**On another note there have been a lot of reviews/comments about a pairing for this story. To be honest I wasn't really looking at a possible pairing for this piece. In fact, there is no Naraku involved nor is there anyone else from the Inuyasha storyline that is with Kagome on this new side adventure… because that is truly what this story is. It's a side adventure. Unless I'm stuck by new inspiration that is largely how this story is going to remain, and so I'm really sorry if anyone is truly disappointed.**

This sucks

ForestSprite

Chapter 7

Unable to made it to a village before the sun had set the group had camped out again. Currently Sanzo, Hakkai and Gojyo were awake with Kagome and Goku asleep next to each other on the other side of the fire.

"I have the strangest feeling our stray knows more than she lets on," Hakkai said with a grim smile.

"You think she's one of Kougaiji's spies?" Gojyo asked leaning back comfortably, puffing contently on his cigarette.

Hakkai seemed almost amused by the very idea. "You know the idea has never crossed my mind but I doubt it. I do believe she really is lost and has been separated from her companions but I'm sure there is more to it than just that."

"She knows how to fight," Sanzo said bluntly.

"You caught that too?" Hakkai asked, his eyes twinkling in joy. "Or she's very familiar with fighting because she's barely flinched anytime we've had to fight."

"If nothing else she sure knows how to hit," Gojyo murmured rubbing his cheek in remembrance.

"I wonder…" Hakkai murmured thoughtfully. "Did you know she actually checks herself before hitting you? Right before she slaps you there is a very brief pause where she stops full momentum and then slaps you."

The red heads eyebrows went up in surprise. "I suppose I should be thankful. How old do you think she is?"

Hakkai smiled, "Don't you know it's rude to contemplate a woman's age?"

"It's also rude to talk about someone because you think they can't hear you," a sleepy voice said from across them making them start surprised except for Sanzo who was hard to catch off guard no matter the circumstances. "I'm twenty-two just so you know, now shut up and get some sleep."

Hakkai chuckled guilty, "Hai, Kagome. Good-night."

"Night," she grunted turning over and falling asleep again.

"You heard her. Time to turn in for the night," Gojyo laughed closing his eyes.

"Yes, it'll be another long day tomorrow," Hakkai agreed settling in for the night. He turned his inquisitive gaze onto Sanzo. "How about you?"

"I will shortly. I just want to think," he replied bored.

"As you say," Hakkai nodded in assent and fell asleep.

Sanzo stared past the fire at the sleeping female. "Who are you really?"

XXXX

Kagome smiled down at the younger looking boy as he chattered excitedly, wildly swinging his bag laden arms around to emphasize certain things he said every now and then, all with a huge smile on his face.

The Sanzo group had just recently arrived at the town and decided that the best way to be as inconspicuous as possible was to have Kagome go out and do the grocery shopping seeing as how she wasn't all that well known for traveling with the group just yet, which she wasn't against. Goku though, had been against the idea about her going alone and had argued his way so that he was standing right where he currently was. Something she wasn't really all that against either.

There was something very endearing about the boy/man that he was made her calm just to have him next to her. She felt that sometimes maybe she was projecting him into Shippo's position in her life but if she thought hard enough about it she'd realize she couldn't possibly. Her Shippo still needed her to protect him and feel loved.

Goku on the other hand, she knew, could very well take care of himself. She wasn't worried about that. What she was a little worried about was the story about him being born a heretical child. That meant that he had grown up without any parents, particularly a mother and she was worried that he might be fitting her into that category just as she almost fit him into the category of her son.

She wasn't upset that he might think of her like that… just worried. She had no idea just what was going to happen to her from here. Could she get back to her group and her family or would she be stuck in this parallel universe for the rest of her life? These are the things that bothered the poor miko so much that she almost missed the sudden attack that was launched on the boy/man with her.

He was talking so animatedly to her that he completely missed it so she didn't hesitate when she used her arms to roughly shove him away from her and miss getting struck by the attack that landed with a resounding boom where he had stood just moments before.

Goku looked at her with a small sense of awe and surprise that she had been able to move so fast before it finally struck him that they were under attack. Setting down the food bags, after assuring himself they weren't damaged, he stood up straight and summoned his weapon, the Nyoi-Bo, going into a defensive position, trying to discern where the enemy was and just how many he'd have to take down so they could go back with the food and eat Kagome's delicious cooking.

Golden eyes scanned the area as he positioned himself slightly in front of Kagome so as to protect her just in case. Whoever had attacked him just now may think of her as someone he just met and not worth the time or she could be thought of as a powerful bargaining tool, which was clearly an idea that the monkey king wasn't all that thrilled about.

"So much for a quick and easy trip to the market place," Kagome muttered from behind him as she set her bags down right where he'd laid his.

He couldn't help the silly grin that split his face. He was so happy to have her with him.

The woman gave an annoyed sigh as she plopped gracelessly on the ground behind him and quirked an eyebrow at his back. "I'll trust you to keep me safe while I do this," and without further explanation she went into a trance stunning the demon who'd turned around just then to ask her what she meant.

"You can't just fall asleep in the middle of an attack!" he exclaimed loudly, confusion and annoyance evident in his voice. "What are you doing? Get up!" He was cut off from whatever else he was going to say when he saw something out of the corner of his eye and spun to the left, holding his Nyoi-Bo in front of him angled to catch the attack, fire in his eyes. "Hey, don't interrupt me while I'm talking to the crazy chick falling asleep in the middle of the road!" he growled as he pushed back mightily throwing the attacking demon several feet back from him.

"I'll have you know it's extremely rude to call women crazy chicks," Kagome growled as she slowly brought herself back out of her trance and just in time to haphazardly roll out of the way of another attacking demon.

"You're the one that fell asleep on the road," he shouted as he moved to her side to slice at the demon.

"I didn't fall asleep you silly child! I was meditating," she shouted in turn dodging another attack.

"It's about the same thing!" Goku shouted back. "Sanzo does the same thing all the time and he won't respond to anything for really long periods of time."

"It's probably because he goes deep within himself to ignore you even more so than he usually does," she replied primly blowing a raspberry at the monkey king.

He shot her an amused look. "That may very well be it but it's pretty much the same as sleeping!"

"Is not," Kagome responded quickly.

"Is too!" Goku said with gusto.

"Have you ever tried it?" she asked with mild amusement.

"Yeah, and I fell asleep," he responded as he sliced at another attacking demon.

"That's probably because you have such a short attention span," she laughed as she side stepped a particularly nasty slash attack.

He grinned sheepishly. "I don't have a short attention span."

Their playful banter was interrupted by a very annoyed demon who was pissed at being ignored so easily. "Will you stop talking and fight us already!"

The two turned together to cast annoyed glares at the demon. "Don't interrupt us!" They shouted simultaneously, Goku moving to take it out.

"Why did you go into a meditation thingy anyway?" Goku asked as he easily batted away the next attacking demon.

"I was trying to determine how many demons were here," she replied with a casual shrug.

"And?"

"Hmm, well not as much as before we reached the village but enough that we may want to change our location so as not to cause any serious damage to this village. By the way, Goku?" she asked turning her head to look at him, her left hand palming something.

"Yeah?" he asked turning to look at her.

"Duck," she said throwing the large rock she'd been holding in her left hand just barely missing him as he ducked out of the way to strike at the demon that was trying to sneak attack him.

Goku spun to face the fallen demon with appreciation. "Thanks."

"I couldn't let him take out my Pervert Guard protection," she said with a small smile as she grabbed his hand and took off running, catching him by surprise for a moment so that he was stumbling after her before he caught his balance keeping pace easily with her though he noted she was a pretty fast runner for a human. His hand gripped her own confidently as they ran.

"Hey, Goku! Do you know of a particular demon that feels like fire?" she asked her voice just slightly breathy as she continued to run.

"Fire? Kougaiji?" He shouted surprised turning a worried face on her.

"Kougaiji? Is that his name? I don't know. I could just feel the presence of fire around him. Is he a bad guy?" she asked interested by his reaction.

Goku turned speculative for a moment as they turned around a corner, headed for the gate that'd lead them out of the village. "I'm not sure if he is or isn't."

She nodded her head to show she could very well understand that. "Well he isn't among those demons back there. In fact he's still awhile away from here but he seems to most definitely be heading here. I'm pretty sure he'll be arriving soon."

Goku kept his worried gaze on her. "Maybe we should separate. You go get the rest of the group and I'll continue to lead the demons on."

"We can't be sure that they'll continue to follow you. I pissed just as many off back there as you did. I mean, they have bad aim and it's not my fault but it still pissed them off that they couldn't hit me," she insisted. "Besides, I helped you out just fine back there. I can help you with this Kougaiji guy if he's looking for a fight. Trust me."

"I really don't want too," he grumbled.

"You don't have much of a choice. I can't leave you now," she told him jerking her head to the front where a large congregation of demons stood. His eyes widened in surprise.

"This sucks," he groaned.

She smiled, "That's my line."

He jerked to a stop, pulling her behind him as he brought his weapon before him all with the intention to protect her. That seemed to be the signal the demons were waiting for because they attacked in a large mass on the small two person group.

XXXX

"They sure are taking their time," Gojyo muttered as he took a drag from his cigarette, leaning backward haphazardly in his chair, feet rested on the table.

"You know how Goku is about being around food," Hakkai responded with an easy smile as he knocked the red head's feet off the table with a mock glare. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"I'm not worried about the monkey. I'm worried about Kagome. That kid can be such a pain and she seems like one of those people who can't say no to kids." He brought his hands in front of him, eyes wide and cute, and attempted to mimic Goku's voice. "Please Kagome? Just this time?"

Hakkai smiled in amusement. "I have reason to believe she knows very well how to handle kids. We shouldn't have to worry about him or her."

Sanzo grunted from his spot, far away from them, reading his paper.

The room fell into companionable silence when all of a sudden all three shot up straight at the same time, eyes all turning to the east. "What the hell was that?" Gojyo asked stunned.

Hakkai's mouth opened to a small oh when he felt a familiar energy. "It's Goku. I think they're under attack." After saying so he made a break for the door, running all out followed shortly by the other two.

"Do any of you know what that first energy was?" Gojyo asked keeping pace with them.

Hakkai and Sanzo shared a quick glance. "Did it feel familiar in anyway shape or form?"

Gojyo gave a bored shrug shooting a quick glance at Sanzo. "Kinda like grumpy here but more."

"Holy energy," Sanzo muttered.

"What? They got a holy being on their side now?" Gojyo yelped surprised.

"Not sure, but we're about to get our answer. We're almost there," Hakkai told him, pointing forward where they could see a large crowd of demons. At that very moment a pink light ripped through the crowd wiping out a large portion.

"I'm thinking the holy person doesn't like them," Gojyo muttered as they made their way to the crowd cutting through the demons that stood in their way.

"Well, this is surprising," Hakkai said in a nonchalant way when they made it to the center to find Kagome and Goku at the heart of the circling demons.

Goku lay on the ground, out cold as blood came out of numerous cuts and injuries. Kagome stood over him glowing a brilliant pink light that she brought to her hands to hold as globes of energy that she tossed at the surrounding demons. Her eyes were completely pink as tears streamed from them, her body littered with cuts and slashes that died her clothes a brilliant red but still she stood protecting the little demon.

"Holy shit!" Gojyo yelled surprised staring at the glowing female.

"Well you got the holy part right," Hakkai said with a faint smile although his eyes were creased with worry as he looked at her.

"Did you know?" Gojyo asked, spinning to face the demon slayer, anger lining his words.

"I had a faint suspicion that she had some kind of power but not to his extent and certainly not this kind," Hakkai told him, holding his hand out to calm the demon.

"This is not the time for such a discussion. We have to stop her before she causes damage to her psyche," Sanzo said as he assessed the situation.

"How do you suggest we do that? She could mistake us for the enemy in her current state. She's not in control of herself at all," Gojyo hissed.

"I'll take care of that. You just take care of the leftover demons. You can do that much right? Or do you want her to continue for a little bit longer to bring their numbers to a more manageable amount for you?" Sanzo asked quirking an eyebrow in mock amusement leaving the demon to seethe as he went charging for where the young woman stood protecting her fallen demon friend.

"He's such an ass," Gojyo said as he brought his weapon out before him.

"But he's such a great leader," Hakkai said with a teasing smile as he turned outwards to face the remaining demons. "Shall we? I'd hate to be shown up by our newest member. Female or not."

"Now you're talking," Gojyo said and the two jumped into the fray, taking out demons.

End Chapter

Yay! A new chapter. It's been a long time coming. Thank you for all being so patient and supporting my work.

FS


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